pieces of metal and plastic

From: Tony Duell <ard_at_p850ug1.demon.co.uk>
Date: Thu Jul 3 16:44:09 1997

In message <199707031310.GAA04318_at_mx5.u.washington.edu> classiccmp_at_u.washington.edu writes:
> I got more into the guts of the HP-71, which was a 20-bit, nybble-oriented.
> It had a Saturn chip (I think), on which I programmed in FORTH. A FORTH
> chip was talked about for the HP-41 (never heard it called a coco, though)
> but I don't know if it jelled.

'Coconut' was certainly the code-name for the HP41

I also like the HP71B. They're very easy to find in the UK at the moment, and
tend to sell for about \pounds 20.00. Forth/assembler ROMs are a lot rarer,
though, but the built-in Basic is quite nice.

I was very lucky - I managed to obtain all the technical docs on the HP71B,
including a commented source of the ROMs. It's a very interesting machine
internally. The Saturn (which is used in a lot of later HP handhelds,
including the HP48 family) is a strange chip. I'd not call it 20 bit, though.
Addresses (nybble addresses!) are 20 bits, most registers are 64 bits, and the
ALU is (I think) 4 bits. Call it whatever size you like.

>

-tony

>
Received on Thu Jul 03 1997 - 16:44:09 BST